It Matters
by Mrs Don Draper
Summary: Rated T for the mention of rape. Locke finds Kate in the jungle after she had been missing for three days. One-shot.


"Did they follow us?" she asks, ducking down behind a high bush.

"I can't tell for sure. They move very quickly," he says, pausing before saying, "Let me take a look at your arm."

One of the Others had taken out a knife she'd had hidden in her boot. When Kate had been tackling with a man, warding him off, the Other saw her chance and cut a stripe down her left arm.

She wordlessly holds out her arm to him, wincing in pain. If Locke had gotten there sooner, maybe he could have stopped them before she'd been cut, before the man had taken advantage of her. The woman Other hadn't even tried to make him stop. Just told him to hurry up before someone came to rescue her.

"Are you hurt anywhere else?" asks Locke.

She shakes her head, she feels her face redden in shame. She wouldn't look him in the eye.

"Kate, did he touch you?"

She can tell that he's concerned, worried for her. He's from the generation where chivalry hasn't died and gone to hell. He wants to protect her honor. Perhaps he'd go back and find the man and kill him. But she doesn't want any more bloodshed between the opposing sides of the Island.

"It doesn't matter," she answers, carefully extracting her now bandaged up arm from his grasp. "We should try to get back."

She starts to move in the direction of the beach. She wants to shower and clean these bad feelings off of her. She wants to leave before John sees her cry.

"It matters to me," he calls, making her stop. This gives him time to catch up to her.

Kate pauses before answering. She turns to him and says, "Yes. He did. Now can we please just go back to camp?"

Locke longs to comfort her. Wishes to take her into his arms and tell her he'll go after him. But he doesn't; he knows she would push him away. However, he knows being alone is _not _the best thing for a rape victim to do.

"Will you talk to Jack?"

He knows she trusts the doctor, if not entirely Locke himself. And maybe he'd know what best treatments to use to get her through this and to a better place.

"Why would I do that?" she chokes out, stumbling over a tree root.

He catches her elbow. "I want you to be ok," he answers simply.

Now, she can't stop the tears from falling down her face. The tough façade she had been wearing falls off when she pulls herself in to John's strong, caring arms. When she sobs, he strokes her hair and rubs her back soothingly. Locke always hated seeing a woman cry. He lets her cry it out, but gets slightly alarmed when she starts hyperventilating.

"Easy, easy," he coos, "Take slow breaths. One, two, three, four, five."

When she feels like she can't cry any more, she feels drained. She just wants to sleep right now. Even if they are in the middle of the jungle. Locke sees he sway a little on her feet and he puts a steadying hand on her shoulder.

"Can you walk?"

She shakes her head pitifully.

"You wanna make camp for the night?

She nods her head. If she talks, she'll start crying again.

He, too, nods his head and goes around picking up twigs and sticks to make a fire. He suspects it will be cold tonight, due to all the wind they've been getting from the ocean lately. He guesses that winter must be approaching again. Kate whispers that she's hungry, and he goes off in search of some Island fowl to cook for the both of them to share. He's not surprised to see her wolf down all of her portion before he'd finished half of his. It could have been days since she last ate something.

He decides to try his luck in asking her where she had run off to for the past three days.

"Hoping to find Richard. He seems to know everything about this damn rock, thought maybe he could help us...Guess I was wrong."

Locke doesn't press her further on the subject. He knows that she'll talk when she's ready.

*

Night falls quickly, and John can tell that makes Kate nervous. She is hyper-aware of all her surroundings. She keeps asking herself what ifs: what if he followed us, what if there are more like them, what if I'm pregnant..._what if, what if, what if_?

"We should try to get some rest, Kate. The others will be wondering what became of us."

She sees him pulling a blanket from his pack, and she imitates him. When he lays out his blanket near the fire, she does the same, close to him. He notices.

He falls into a light sleep facing the fire while she tosses and turns, unable to get comfortable, unable to get the picture of the strange man forcing her pants down. She looks over at him and he's sleeping pretty peacefully. She wants that _so _bad. But she knows that's not gonna happen tonight. Kate crawls over to him, dragging her blanket behind her and lays it back out again. Only this time, she's about two feet closer to him. Close enough that she can see his chest rise and fall with each breath.

He must sense her watching him because he says, "You're welcome to lay next to me." He doesn't even open his eyes.

She hesitates. Is he expecting something from her?

"I'm not going to hurt you." It's like he can read her mind.

Again, she moves and lays down in front of him, her back to his chest. She tenses when she feels him adjust. She doesn't want this to turn into something else.

"It's alright, Kate."

When he says this, she lets out a breath she didn't know she was holding. She even lets him drape his arm over her waist. It makes her feel safer, protected.

"Thank you, John," she whispers.

She feels him nod his head. "You're welcome."

Locke finally feels her breathing even out and he knows she's asleep. Hopefully now Kate will be alright. Hopefully now, they'll all be alright.


End file.
